Prescription Motorcycle Glasses and Sunglasses

Date: 12.17.14

All prescription lenses are not created equal. This is especially important to consider when designing Rx lenses for prescription motorcycle glasses and sunglasses. Many retailers are still using a standard lens design that does not account for the wrap of motorcycle glasses. This standard or ‘old school’ method of lens surfacing other retailers are using limits your vision. New Digital Free-Form surfacing used at ADS Sports Eyewear provides a much larger sweet spot better clarity. Free-Form digital lenses are available in both Single Vision and Progressive versions.

Prescription Motorcycle Glasses & Digital Free-Form Lenses

VSP, the only national not-for-profit vision care company, describes Free-Form surfacing:

“It’s called “free-form,” a revolutionary digital manufacturing process that uses computer-aided design and surfacing to create high-level, customized eyeglass lenses with your unique prescription.

Think of it as a tailor for your eyes. Just like you can take an off-the-rack pair of pants and have it customized to fit your specific measurements, you can now have lenses made customized for your specific prescription and frames.”

In addition to the added clarity that Digital Free-Form provides, it also eliminates peripheral distortion that comes with putting traditional Rx lenses in a wrapped frame.

Wrapped Frame Example: The left lens illustrates what happens to your peripheral vision in a traditionally surfaced lens. The right lens illustrates an undistorted field of vision thanks to Digital Free-Form surfacing.

This peripheral clarity is achieved by recalculating the prescription at every point on the back of each lens. No matter what angle you are viewing, that part of the lens has been made for your eyes, at that angle, for that distance. Motorcyclists are especially benefited by the sharp vision as no one likes their sight limited when they are flying down the road at 90 mph.

Prescription Motorcycle Glasses and Sunglasses – Lens Materials

There are three approved lens materials for prescription motorcycle glasses. They are polycarbonate, Trivex, and SR-91. All three are unbreakable and safe, but have their differences.

Polycarbonate

Polycarbonate is found in 99% of non-prescription sports and motorcycle glasses. It can be made clear, tinted, polarized, or in transitions that lighten and darken depending on the amount of light that is going through the lenses. In the stress test below, the lens holds up and would protect your eye but is irreparably damaged. This is our default lens material for prescription motorcycle glasses.

Trivex

Trivex is a specialty material developed by the US military as an improvement on polycarbonate. Trivex can be made clear, tinted, polarized, or in transitions. We like to say that the ‘Tri’ stands for the three added benefits of Trivex.

1. Better optics, especially in peripheral zones.

2. Lighter weight

3. Super Durability

In the same stress test, Trivex holds up better than polycarbonate and shows almost no damage after impact.

SR-91

SR-91 is a polarized version of Trivex developed by Kaenon. They basically take two Trivex lenses and sandwich a premium polarization film in between the two. The optics of an SR-91 are amazing. SR-91 lenses are only available in polarized form with a tint.

Prescription Motorcycle Glasses – Lens Information Recap

1. Digital Free-Form lens surfacing is the way to the best possible experience when riding a motorcycle. This is available in both Single Vision, and Progressive.

2. ADS Sports Eyewear only uses approved, premium lens materials when making your lenses.

3. We have the best prices on the internet for the Digital Free-Form lens design that we use. We use the Shamir Autograph 3 design and it is the best on the planet. If you find a better price on this lens design, we will beat it!